(Newser)
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Tony Hayward went to Capitol Hill to take his lumps today, and Democrats, at least, delivered them. Henry Waxman praised the BP boss for setting up a $20 billion clean-up fund, but then slammed him for his safety record. When Hayward took his job he said he’d focus “like a laser” on safety, but “There's not a single email or document that shows you paid the slightest attention to the dangers at this well.” Bart Stupak and others read a string of documents, on the other hand, that indicated that Hayward chose profits over safety.

When Hayward finally got the chance to speak, he struck a conciliatory tone. “Let me be very clear: I fully grasp the terrible reality of the situation,” he said, in prepared remarks reported in the Wall Street Journal, touting the millions BP has spent so far on cleanup. His remarks were interrupted by a protester, who stood up, hands and face smeared with a black substance, and screamed, "You need to be charged with a crime. You need to go to jail." She was wrestled to the ground by police, and according to the Guardian, appeared to be hurt in the process. Other protesters confronted Hayward with signs reading "BP Kills."

There is plenty of blame to go around but it starts with BP and specifically with Lord Browne. Do you remember that Browne was publicly promoting green issues and linked "BP" with the phrase Beyond Petroleum to indicate a desire to meet energy needs without excessive harm to the environment. At the very same time, he was leaning on his departments to be more productive, faster, with less. The 1997 explosion at the BP facility in Texas City was just one of many accidents that were due to BP's casual relationship to safety. A corporate culture that told the world it was concerned with safety, and forced its employees to operate in highly unsafe conditions reminds me of the world described by Sinclair Lewis, a world where business and government created a supremely successful nation with a questionable moral compass. Is it any surprise that we've become highly partisan - and that our elected representatives have chosen to accept business as their constituency?

finkster

Jun 17, 2010 6:16 PM CDT

The woman protester was right this man needs to go to jail for a very long time.